court n. (2)法院 由法官组成的行使司法权、裁决争议的机构。 (3)法官 (4)(美国马萨诸塞州〔Massachusetts〕)立法机关 称「General Court」。 (5)法庭 进行诉讼或其他法律程序的场所，如「庭外陈述」〔out-of-court statement〕。 (6)(=courthouse) court与judge经常可作为同义词使用。在美国，court现在被作为一个集合名词使用，其后的动词用单数形式；在英国，当进行庭审的法官为一名以上时，court后面的动词用复数形式，而在很久以前，这种用法亦普遍地应用于美国。
hearsay exception. Any of several deviations from the hearsay rule, allowing the admission of otherwise inadmissible statements because the circumstances surrounding the statements provide a basis for considering the statements reliable. tender-years hearsay exception. A hearsay exception for an out-of-court statement by a child ten years of age or younger, usu. describing an act of
extrajudicial, adj. Outside court; outside the functioning of the court system (extrajudicial confessions). — Also termed out-of-court.
hearsay rule. The rule that no assertion offered as testimony can be received unless it is or has been open to test by cross-examination or an opportunity for cross-examination, except as provided otherwise by the rules of evidence, by court rules, or by statute. • The chief reasons for the rule are that out-of-court statements
out-of-court, adj. Not done or made as part of a judicial proceeding (an out-of-court settlement) (an out-of-court statement that was not under oath). See EXTRAJUDICIAL.